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Spectator
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
My P.G. Wodehouse summer
Normally I model myself on one of the more retiring of the Desert Fathers, as much as a man living in England with six children can, so I rarely venture out. But this summer I could have given Galahad Threepwood a run for his money in the socialising stakes. Not that a Desert Father would have objected to my visit to Wimbledon to the papal nunciature, where the nuncio was celebrating the papacy of Leo XIV. It is reassuring to have a Pope who believes in the papal office and, with luck, the traditional liturgies will no longer be persecuted. The hatred for the Latin Mass is a peculiarity of a few ageing liberals. Fortunately, young Catholics, including my nephew David who is a seminarian, are flocking to the Old Rite. Wimbledon, as P.G. Wodehouse aficionados know, is Ukridge territory. His Aunt Julia lived there, and I am taking a leaf out of his book by keeping quails in Somerset. I bought a few to get started but now want to breed some more. Mr Bezos, despite being so busy with his nuptials, has kindly delivered an incubator and other essentials so I hope to do a bit better than Ukridge did with his chickens, or indeed his proposed duck farm. I must see if I can get a pig next. The Conservative party may be short of votes but Conservatism is brimming over with ideas. Leading the charge is Radomir Tylecote at the Prosperity Institute, formerly Legatum, and I was honoured to be asked to speak at its summer party. I was the warm-up act for Nigel Farage, who you never want to follow. I argued we need to reunite the right; he demurred, but at the next election we need a mandate in votes as well as a majority of seats. One without the other ends in tears, as Keir Starmer is discovering. In eight years at educational establishments on the Thames I never once went on the river, but since my son Thomas has taken up rowing – he is the cox for an Eton crew – I am beginning to learn about it. Indeed, I have been taught the difference between rowing and sculling and with this new knowledge I greatly enjoyed my first visit to the Henley Regatta. It was a perfect day, warm but not too hot, in the company of long-standing friends. It is a wonderfully English event, everyone is properly dressed with the happy sensation of being transported, in my case forward, to the Victorian era. Although the trains would have worked better in those days. Returning to London, my wife Helena and I set off to The Spectator's summer party. As we sauntered along Old Queen Street we bumped into the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. I first met him many years ago when he greeted me saying: 'You don't even think I am a bishop.' It was a point I had not intended to make but it is a reminder that Leo XIII was the pope of Apostolicae Curae as well as Rerum Novarum. As it happens, Welby was not going to the party last week, but I was glad to see him as I had not done so since he resigned. I feel he has been harshly treated and is fundamentally a holy man. The scandal of abuse, in all walks of life but especially the churches, is not ameliorated by finding scapegoats who were not in charge at the time. The Spectator puts on a fine party but, like my late father, I am not good at mingling and tend to stand in a corner fiddling with my cufflinks in the hope that people will take pity on me and come to say hello. Fortunately they did, and my glass seemed to be topped up after each sip. Pol Roger, in this case, or Bollinger, which I tend to serve at home, make a party jolly and are much to be encouraged. Meanwhile, Helena, who is more socially adept, managed to speak to everyone including Nigel Farage and the editor. She could fill me in on the political gossip as we went home. When I was an MP, Fridays were always busy with constituency duties. Now they are quite quiet, so it seemed like old times when the friends of Cameley Church came to see me. They are fundraising to preserve the remarkable medieval wall paintings of this wonderful 12th-century church. When I was Lord President of the Council I watched the list of burial grounds to be closed attentively as Cameley is quite full and I plan to end up in the church yard where generations of Moggs and Rees-Moggs are buried. On the day of the bodily resurrection, I expect we will all pop up and fiddle with our cufflinks before ruminating on the beautiful Somerset countryside.
Spectator
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Farage claims the mantle of Thatcher's revolution
After a day of drama in Westminster, an intriguing party was hosted at Charterhouse Square in the City. The Prosperity Institute, formerly Legatum, is not one of the more venerable think tanks, like the Fabians or the IEA. But the attendant crowd – a mix of centre-right wonks, spinners, thinkers and politicians – was a testament to the work that the institute has done since July 2024. A large marquee and well-stocked bar prompted one guest to remark that 'It felt more of a wedding than a wake'. That was a refreshing sentiment for many attendees, given the tendency of such events to become mournful, dour affairs since the election. But it also highlighted an important theme: will there be a happy union on the British right before 2029? The two speakers for the evening were Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nigel Farage. The former used his speech to issue a call for the 'Tory family' to come together. The latter then took to the microphone to issue a predictable rebuttal. Farage told the crowd: Jacob said 'We're all part of one big Tory family. I know you might be Jacob, but I'm not'. I don't think the word Tory should be consigned to history. It's failed. It's been around for 200 years, but the whole centre right of British politics needs to be reshaped and reformulated in a very dramatic way. Such comments are hardly a surprise – Farage has been saying the same for 12 months now. But what followed was a passion call-to-arms by the Reform leader, in which he urged those in attendance to join him in his struggle. It is worth quoting at length for posterity's sake: I am going to do amazing things in politics over the course of the next few years. Please don't underestimate that. But I need people like the Prosperity Institute who are bringing fresh, young talent into current affairs, into thinking. We need policy solutions we can give to the electorate next time round. We need positivity. We need optimism… All of you involved with this. You've got a very important role to play. Remember, the great revolution that took place from 1979 was based on lots of hard work and good thinking that had been put in before. You know, the Keith Josephs, the Milton Friedmans, people like that. And that in many ways is your role today with this… We need people to do the work, the thought for those of us in the front lines to have the ammunition to go out and fight, and that's exactly what we intend to do… I would ask you all, please, to raise a glass to our hosts tonight, to the very important work they've got to do. I give you the Prosperity Institute. From the 1980s to the 2010s, globalisation, low taxes and steady economic prosperity was the norm. But Farage has recognised that both global events and the electorate's tastes have changed all that. He is now urging the talent of the British right, clever young men and women in their twenties and thirties, whose forebears created the Thatcher revolution, to help him build what comes next. Some will likely follow Farage. But others – especially admirers of Robert Jenrick – remain with the Tories, for now. 'People are keen to keep a foot in both camps', said one Conservative MP this week. It is not yet obvious whether the Tories or Reform will win the battle of the parties. But one thing is certainly clear from last night: the Prosperity Institute is worth keeping an eye on. Their work will likely form a bedrock of the next centre-right government in Britain: regardless of who leads it.
Telegraph
20-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
GB News being punished to appease Left-wing activists, says co-owner
Ofcom is unfairly punishing GB News under pressure from Left-wing activists, the broadcaster's co-owner has said. Sir Paul Marshall accused the regulator of unfairly targeting the start-up broadcaster with a string of investigations as it struggles to fend off an 'onslaught' of complaints from pressure groups such as Stop Funding Hate. In a speech at Oxford University on Tuesday evening, the media tycoon was expected to say: 'Understandably, Ofcom find it difficult, just like other corporate and institutional boards, to resist the pressures from Left-wing campaigning groups and this has led them to initiate many more enquiries into GB News than could be justified.' Ofcom has found GB News in breach of broadcasting rules a dozen times since its launch in 2021, taking issue with alleged misinformation and its use of politicians as presenters. Sir Paul, a hedge fund tycoon who co-owns GB News alongside Dubai-based investment firm Legatum, has argued that many of the investigations against the channel stem from complaints orchestrated by campaign groups. Even before its launch, the broadcaster was targeted by an advertising boycott led by Stop Funding Hate, which resulted in brands including Ikea and Nivea pulling their campaigns. The boycott continues to hit GB News's bottom line, although other brands such as Marks & Spencer have started to advertise on the channel. 'Constructive relationship' with Ofcom Sir Paul said GB News intends to have 'as constructive a relationship as possible with' the broadcasting regulator. But he added: 'They sit within a framework full of anomalies and they are steadily assailed by invective from Left-wing activists, so it is not easy for them to resist the biases of metropolitan opinion.' Sir Paul has weighed in on the debate after Angelos Frangopoulos, chief executive of GB News, accused Ofcom of having a 'jailer' mentality that was harming Sir Keir Starmer's growth plan. Writing in The Telegraph earlier this month, the TV boss said Ofcom's plans to crack down on the use of politicians as presenters would make it 'even harder for budding newcomers'. Sir Paul, a self-styled 'accidental' media owner who also owns UnHerd and bought The Spectator magazine for £100m last year, urged Ofcom to instead focus its attention on the BBC. He argued that the public service broadcaster is held to lower standards of impartiality as it is permitted to review complaints first before they are escalated to the regulator. Sir Paul accused the BBC of 'egregious bias' in its Arabic service and said the broadcaster had 'failed spectacularly' in its coverage of the grooming gangs scandal. He also branded bosses 'weak, weak, weak' over the Gary Lineker anti-Semitism scandal and called for the corporation to be broken up. The BBC has said the Match of the Day presenter made a mistake after sharing a social media post about Zionism that included an illustration of a rat, but it has repeatedly denied allegations of bias in its reporting. An Ofcom spokesman said: 'As an independent regulator, we enforce our rules fairly and proportionately. All regulated broadcasters must comply with Ofcom's rules. 'The 'BBC First' process for complaints about BBC content is set out in the BBC Charter and Agreement and was approved by Parliament.' In his Pharos lecture, Sir Paul also took aim at tech giants. He said Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg should be forced to publish their algorithms and said platforms such as X and Meta should face tougher regulation to ensure they are held accountable for material posted on their sites.
